(ARA) - Your credit score affects what type of interest rates you get on credit cards or for buying a house or car, as well as your approvals for employment or apartment rental. It's important that you understand not only what your score means, but how to repair it.

Now you can get your credit score online.

By viewing your credit activity on a regular basis you can remove any items that may not belong to you, which can negatively affect your score. If you have a low credit score due to detrimental items that need to be removed or fixed, there are steps you can take to remove them.

GoFreeCredit.com teaches you how to manage your credit report and how to deal with credit bureaus and creditors. Credit monitoring, automatic notification of credit activity and a detailed personal analysis are all included in this online service.

Many times people don't realize there is negative activity on their credit report. Nor do they know which items bring the score down. These are the top damaging factors that can negatively affect your credit score:

* Bankruptcies

* Judgments

* Collections

* Past 30-days late payments

Contrary to what most people think, it is possible to get negatively reported items removed from your report sooner than seven years. There is no law stating that it has to remain there that long, and by taking the right steps, you can get a record removed once the item has been appropriately handled.

Improving your credit increases your options for financial success. Knowing how to improve your score will benefit you the rest of your life.

To learn more about how improving your credit rating can reduce your payments with better interest rates, log on to GoFreeCredit.com and sign up to receive your unlimited access credit report or free 30-day trial membership.